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Blu-ray releases for March 23rd 2010
Another week in March of new releases means another Academy Award Winning performances as Sandra Bullock took home the big price for her work in The Blind Side. Great news for those who like to buy, not so much for the renters out there as this is the first big title to be subjective to Warner's 30 day rental embargo. Disney also continues to lay on the goods this month as it brings two of Pixar's bests with Toy Story and Toy Story 2 -- no mention of a 3D release though. The Blind Side (Warner) Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove (Warner) Toy Story (Walt Disney) Toy Story 2 (Walt Disney) The African Queen (Paramount) Brothers (Lionsgate) Mad Men: Season Three (Lionsgate) Days of Heaven (Criterion) Bigger Than Life (Criterion) Yojimbo (Criterion) Sanjuro (Criterion) Fantastic Mr. Fox (Fox) The Men Who Stare at Goats (Anchor) Phantom Punch (Screen Media) Red Cliff (Magnolia) Spring 1941 (Well Go USA)
Pixar talks about what it took to upgrade Toy Story to 3D
And some people didn't know it is possible to make an old movie look good in HD, and here Pixar is going back and making 15 year old movies 3D. Evidently Pixar has always thought about how its movies would look in 3D and decided to go back and make it happen with the first two Toy Story movies. The timing is due to the fact that Toy Story 3 is right around the corner, but while fans wait to see it, they can go to the theater and relive the first two like never before. What's interesting is that the original data took about 4 months to convert just to make it compatible with Pixar's current technology, and after that was done, it took another 6 months to convert each movie to 3D. The other interesting nuget is about how the distance between the two cameras help determine how "3D" an image will look -- an interesting read even if you're not interested in 3D.[Via TVSnob.com]
Toy Story Mania receives a ray gun controller
It's only fitting that a Wii game based on a theme park attraction would be controlled with a device based on a toy. Peripheral company Thrustmaster just announced its first Disney-licensed accessory, a Wii gun shell reminiscent of Buzz Lightyear's ray gun, coinciding with the European release of Toy Story Mania! The Ray Gun NW is expected in European stores by the end of September at a price of €14.99.Sure, it's a bit frivolous, but maybe you can think of the gun as enhancing the 3-D effect found in part of the game. Even without glasses, it would totally look like Buzz Lightyear's gun is, like, right there in your hand!
3D glasses included in two new Disney games for Xbox 360, PS3 & Wii
While you'll probably have to wait for James Cameron's Avatar for a proper stereoscopic 3D experience on consoles, Disney is readying two games this summer that will not only support anaglyph 3D (good news, it will work on any TV, bad news, it's the same low quality red/blue style 3D you've seen and ignored before), but come with two pairs of glasses packed in. Just continuing on the 3D hype its been dispensing to the kids with Jonas Bros. and Hannah Montana flicks both on the big screen and at home, highlighted most recently with Up and culminating in the upcoming Toy Story 1 & 2 3D remakes in October, Disney is clearly making an effort to work the technology in on every level with special 3D modes (no cheat codes necessary.) Toy Story Mania is a Wii-exclusive game due this fall based on the ride at its resorts, while G-Force brings spy guinea pigs to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 July 21.[Via Joystiq]
Ultimate Buzz Lightyear robot to the rescue, on video
Step aside, Wall-E: Buzz Lightyear, courtesy of Thinkway Toys, has arrived to claim his rightful place at the top of the robot-based-on-Disney-character heap. Maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but Buzz's facial animation, sexy moves and trademark catch-phrases have all been wrapped up into a nice little bow here to rake in the cash when Toy Story and Toy Story 2 hit theaters this October as a 3D glasses double feature. Buzz responds to a few voice commands, can play a laser tag with the included remote, has a "Puppeteering Programming" mode to pose him for your own animations, and can even suffer an identity crisis when you tell him that he's just a toy. He'll be available this fall for $130-ish, check out a video after the break.
Disney: Toy Story Mania! doesn't include 3D glasses (yet!)
Tipsters are pointing out that Toy Story Mania! -- the recently announced exclusive for the Nintendo Wii -- would include a pair of 3-D glasses when it shipped this fall. However, Disney tells Joystiq that it has yet to confirm any details on packaging. While Disney had previously confirmed the game (based on a 3D Disney Studios attraction) would include "bonus 3D features," no further details regarding the nature of the bonuses were revealed.When contacted for a clarification, Sunny Ing of Disney Interactive Studios told Joystiq the Disney folks were currently exploring options and "haven't come to a decision" whether or not to include such an item with the game. With the famed characters of Toy Story, we think a set of 3-D glasses would be the icing on the cake for fun, family entertainment. But, maybe that's just us.
Scream it! Disney Interactive announces Toy Story Mania!
Disney Interactive Studios has reached back into the Pixar trick bag and plucked Toy Story out for a new game on the Wii titled Toy Story Mania! No, not just Mania. Mania! It's exciting, so you have to yell it. Actually by blogging law we're required to scream it out loud whenever we type it -- kind of awkward since we're working from our local coffee bar today. Toy Story Mania! brings the popular franchise that put Pixar on the mainstream map to the Nintendo Wii. Based on a 3-D theme park attraction of the same name -- along with an exclamation point -- Toy Story Mania! will include shooting-galleries adapted from the 3-D ride as well as new areas starring characters from the franchise. Levels are designed for up to four players with support for both cooperative and competitive multiplayer. Toy Story Mania! will hit the Wii exclusively this fall. We'd tell you more but we're being kicked out of the coffee bar for causing a public disturbance.
Disney to expand MMORPG line-up
No stranger to the online landscape, Disney's CES presentation included word on their future plans to create massive worlds based on many of their licenses. With Pirates of the Caribbean already well into production (if not due this year), Disney intends to "build more virtual worlds like "Pirates" based on a broad range of our properties." Disney is quick to throw out Toy Story as an example of this, but when they mean broad, think real broad. This may not mean that every game is going to own up to the standard, online RPG format. A "virtual world" can be anything from an online hack-and-slash like Pirates to something of a visual chatroom like MTV's Virtual Laguna Beach.Disney's first foray into the MMORPG format was a kid friendly action game, Toontown, which is still online to this day and at by last account, fairly competent. Should Disney team-up down the line with some designers worth their chops, we may not insist on groaning when we hear word of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody Online.